Have You Seen My Mojo?

I'm not on vacation, but I have visions of my knitting mojo lounging on a beach, sipping mojitos, and laughing at my recent knitting attempts. You don't believe me? I have evidence.

Exhibit 1 was the Fluted Banister Socks. I like the yarn; it is soft and fun. I like the pattern; it is quick to memorize and pleasant to knit. The two together? Not so much. Busy yarn + busy pattern = too much and it all gets mashed together. The sock has been completely frogged and is now becoming a nice, plain ribbed sock.

Exhibit B was entirely the fault of The Sheared Sheep. They had a delightful sale during the first weekend of May and they had Lorna's Laces! I picked up some Gold Trail and then saw the pattern for Yukon Leaves. The two seemed like a perfect match. Well, when knit, I see less of a Yukon Trail and more of Follow the Yellow Brick Road. The swirling pools just aren't doing it for me. I see more frogging in my future.

Exhibit the third was a reaction to the two previous sock disasters. After doing serious credit card damage during The Sheared Sheep Sale Saturday (try saying that three times fast), I dove back into my stash and started the April/May Vintage Socks pattern, Fancy Silk Sock. I used Regia Cotton in black and it just isn't working. The yarn seems much rougher than the Regia Cotton I used for the Sixth Sense pattern. Besides, they are just too big! As you can see, these are ready for the frog pond.

Finally, I return to Aran Rose Peach. I started the front this week. Five rows into the ribbing I realized that I had made a dramatic error on the sleeve that I had recently finished and the entire sleeve will need to be redone. My pointy sticks just don't have the magic this week.

Ode to Mom

Whether you use your sink for dishes or cleaning out sprinkler heads, there is no one like Mom. I hope that your Mother's Day was wonderful.

Project: Ballband Dishcloth from Mason*Dixon Knitting

Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Sage and Landscape

Needles: US7 (4.5 mm) straights

Notes: Quick, and fun, but I felt a little silly. This is my first knitted dishcloth. I don't think it will be my last (if for no other reason than I have more yarn left).

Finally, Time to Knit

Well, time to post, actually. The knitting has been coming along just fine. First off we have another pair of completed socks (without even enough time to post a progress shot).


Pattern: Denmark from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush (April/May sock from the KOTR KAL)

Yarn: Cashsoft DK by RY Classic Yarns in 507 (beige) I used almost exactly one ball per sock. I had just a few yards left when I was all finished.

Needles: US 2 (2.75mm)

Notes: Another great pattern from Nancy Bush! These knit up very quickly and the pattern was easy to memorize. I was even able to cable without a cable needle on these (a first for me)! The yarn is ever so soft! The socks are nice and warm. Okay, so they are a little too warm for SoCal. That means that someone out there can expect to see them as a gift later this year.

Next up are the progress shots:

First we have an entire sleeve from Aran Rose Peach. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cotton DK. I have realized that I will probably need more yarn (curse my optimism) so I need to knit quickly while I can still find a fix to finish the back if when I need it.

Next we have my FLAK (betcha never thought I get around to this one). I've sailed off to sleeve island and expect to be there for some time. The warmth of spring has made this low on my priorities, but I do enjoy the pattern.

Of course, my sock knitting needles can never remain empty, so we have the next sock in line. This one is the Fluted Banister pattern that was a 6Sox Knitalong project many months ago. The pattern is quick and easy and the yarn is a cotton that looks to be fun for summer.

What I really wanted was to start on a pair of Trekking XXL socks. I had one skein when Margene and Norma announced their inspired new KAL.

Now I have two skeins of Trekking XXL (66 for me and 69 for Mr. Engineer) and I'm chomping at the bit waiting for 1 June. Maybe I will need to cast on early......